We were lucky enough to be invited to Aine's 21st birthday party this weekend - at her home on Sydney's north shore. It was a lovely party with the sweetest, quietest, smartest bunch of young people I have seen together in a L-O-N-G time.
We've known sweet Aine all her life but only got to meet one of her biggest fans (Charlotte) last night. Charlotte and her little sister Olivia delivered confident, articulate and passionate speeches that were a highlight of the night - in tribute to their fave (ex) neighbour. I found it hard to believe Charlotte is only 16 years old.
A picture of Aine, with some of her besties (fellow students at Sydney Uni). You can just tell they are bunch of troublemakers can't you?
I have known Aine's Mum Tania for over thirty years - from when she was fresh out of ANU Art School herself. Now there's the real wild child of this party!!!
There was a big crowd to feed - and everything handmade and delicious.....
... and a perfect birthday cake for Aine ..........
.. and hours of dancing after with these gorgeous young (and not so young) things. My feet are very sore today (but at least my head isn't!).
Tania was in fine form (of course).
The pool area was deserted tonight. Sydney has had the same cold snap that we've had in Canberra this week - but it was a very pretty backdrop to the main party scene....
We just had an overnight stay in Sydney this weekend - at the Meriton in Chatswood (for the first time ever). Apart from a bit of a shopping session in the CBD for me and a delicious brunch at Maroubra's Pool Cafe this morning we didn't do much else in Sydney, other than enjoy Aine's party.
We're going to really enjoy watching this special girl launch herself into the world - just as soon as this Uni degree is done!
We've just enjoyed a wonderful Sydney short stay (it's harder to do anything longer now we can't stay at our own place in Coogee).
We've decided we like staying in Surry Hills for our Sydney stopovers. Such a lively, arty, grungy inner city suburb and only a 5 minute bus ride to the city. After parking the car and unloading we were able to make a quick trip into the CBD yesterday afternoon - to conduct some (jewellery) business at Courtesy of the Artist in the beautiful Strand Arcade in Pitt St...……..
before walking down to Chinatown to sample some of the scrumptious Emperor's Garden pork buns (and my favourite glutinous rice cakes filled with red bean paste)………………...
We spent a fascinating hour or so at the nearby Powerhouse Museum checking out the beautiful Akira Isogawa 25year retrospective before walking back to Surry Hills (a long and hilly walk!)
Luckily we had about an hour to rest and get ready for our big night out: drinks with Judy and Jurgen at the very glam Champagne Bar at the Sofitel Darling Harbour ……………….
….. then dinner at The Ternery at the Novotel before heading to the Lyric Theatre at Pyrmont - and our great dress circle seats for "Saturday Night Fever" - the musical. We enjoyed the show; music and dance just fantastic, but not as dark (or as funny) as the movie. But still a great show!
We caught the light rail back to Central Station after the show - a first for us - now we can't wait until our new light rail comes on line in Canberra over Easter!!!
Breakfast at Bill's on Crown St didn't work out this morning as there was too long a wait to get a table. So we walked the laid back streets of this rapidly gentrifying suburb until we came across the bountiful Bourke St Bakery - enjoying great coffee and almond croissants in the company of a steady stream of hipsters, tradies and arty types.
Back home again now; what a fun-packed 24 hours! Thank you Sydney.
We were able to fit in a visit to the wonderful Masters of Modern Art from the Hermitage exhibition at the AGNSW yesterday. Focussing on French artists of the decade 1900-1910 this relatively small exhibition had plenty of beautiful Monets, Mattisses, Cezannes, Kandinskys and Picassos to please everyone.
But the main reason we'd come to Sydney was for our Sunday dinner date with our dear friends David and Irene at the fabulous Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House. We've waited a long time for this with all the "issues" this year.... but at last we've made it!
We'd booked into the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel on Macquarie Street - a short walk to the Quay (and Bennelong) - but a beautiful and historic property in its own right!
But the star of the show was last night's dinner at Bennelong - in our country's most iconic building with its stunning harbourside location.
We were so lucky tonight not to have one of those ginormous cruise ships backed up to the overseas terminal - blocking our sunset view.
The food was beautiful of course - Princess Charlotte Bay bug dumplings, confit of Maremma duck (in the front of pic below) for me, and an array of shared desserts to finish off...…. perfect!!
After a wonderful and memorable night at Bennelong it was a windy walk back along the Quay and then up these 150 odd year old stairs to our lovely hotel in Macquarie Street.
We had to finish off the night with a ride in our hotel's oldest lift in Australia - it only spans 3 levels but makes up for its limitations with old world character in spades (a bit like us really!).
Our rooms may not have been on the hotel's "best" side but it is always good to catch a glimpse of Sydney's stunning harbour no matter how small a glimpse it is.
We started today with a walk and a bit of a stair work out - and a view of this (below)! It's just as well we'd got moving as our hotel breakfast proved to be too difficult to resist - even with our indulgence last night. Sydney is such a stunner - especially when long anticipated treats like this are shared with friends
The London branch were well set up in their stylish Randwick Airbnb during their Sydney stay: lots of pool time for Eddie, fantastic toys to play with, great eating options nearby and plenty of shared time with Nanny and Poppa (and us)! It helped (just) make up for the loss of Eddie and Ivy's Canberra playmates, although I think Eddie lost his Mojo for a bit - it was so quiet ...........
We didn't do too much in Sydney the first two days - it was too hot to venture far from the a/c and the pool. However by Monday we were able to set out on the ferry to Manly Beach - the classic Sydney visitor destination......
Eddie had recovered his Mojo by this and was a very animated traveller....
Manly had all the attributes Eddie looks for in a beach (namely seagulls!!)..........
Ivy had recovered her sleeping Mojo by today and we didn't see much of her until after lunch.
Lunch was truly amazin. We found the best restaurant eva..... chip pizzas on the menu... 3 thumbs up from Eddie!!
Ivy finally woke up - properly - on the ferry ride back to Circular Quay.....
Hope she doesn't forget seeing Sydney Harbour.......
Our last night together (last night) was lovely. We celebrated Eddie's 7th birthday with a cake and presents ..... The rockin rollin laughin kookaburra was a huge hit (yay!) - resulting in big smiles from Eddie....
and great hilarity all around....
... only to be relieved when those batteries wear out (soon I hope)!
Such precious times with these beauties.........
Can't bear to write how it felt to say goodbye!!!
There were two magical days in early January when we saw the London and Canberra cousins together - the last day of the Mollymook Beach holiday...........
Ivy had the Canberra boys wrapped around her little finger!
And Eddie was best buddies with Angus and Ollie........
Then, just the day after, at Randwick in Sydney, Eddie and Ivy met Ella and Abi (just back from their holiday in Bali). Ella hadn't seen Eddie for six years or so, but they got on (both water babies) as though it was only yesterday.......
In all the excitement Abi avoided nap time all afternoon....
but loved story time, tucked up in bed, with Ella and Abi.....
They all found Davey a great playmate.........
Ella set him her handstand challenge (which Davey fulfilled - just!)
Eddie and Ivy have found all their Australian cousins amazin fun!
A picture of Aine, with some of her besties (fellow students at Sydney Uni). You can just tell they are bunch of troublemakers can't you?
I have known Aine's Mum Tania for over thirty years - from when she was fresh out of ANU Art School herself. Now there's the real wild child of this party!!!
There was a big crowd to feed - and everything handmade and delicious.....
... and a perfect birthday cake for Aine ..........
.. and hours of dancing after with these gorgeous young (and not so young) things. My feet are very sore today (but at least my head isn't!).
Tania was in fine form (of course).
The pool area was deserted tonight. Sydney has had the same cold snap that we've had in Canberra this week - but it was a very pretty backdrop to the main party scene....
We just had an overnight stay in Sydney this weekend - at the Meriton in Chatswood (for the first time ever). Apart from a bit of a shopping session in the CBD for me and a delicious brunch at Maroubra's Pool Cafe this morning we didn't do much else in Sydney, other than enjoy Aine's party.
